A few weeks ago, as I was on my way to do the morning chores, my sister pointed out an incredible phenomenon. Two jet trails crossed in the bright blue cloudless sky, creating a giant white “X” over our land. It was like a huge treasure map – and it’s all ours!

I had to drop my milking paraphernalia off at the barn and run back for my camera. I took several photos, which was a good thing, because by the time the milking was done, the vapor trails had vanished and the sky was clear once again.

I’ve put my favorite one on my desktop as wallpaper. It reminds me every day how blessed I am to be living here, in Washington County, Maine, USA, Planet Earth. I can’t imagine living in any other place in the world.

That’s not true; I can imagine living elsewhere because I spent nearly a year in Germany, compliments of the U.S. Army. I was in my early 20s then. During my childhood, our family had driven to California to visit my father’s family three times over the course of 10 years, and I had lived there for two years prior to my time in Germany. I felt I was a seasoned traveler and looked forward to Germany as a big adventure. I was so naive.

My first-ever plane trip took me to Frankfurt (I think). After several people greeted me with “Guten tag,” I realized I wasn’t in Kansas anymore, Toto. English may be a universal language, but Deutsch is spoken in Germany, which is as it should be. I was a stranger in a strange land. This became startlingly apparent when there were no parades on Memorial Day or the Fourth of July, and no Thanksgiving Day celebrations. In the ignorance of youth, I guess I’d thought they were universal holidays. It was an eye-opening experience for me, and I couldn’t wait to get back home to all things familiar again.

I love America. I love being an American. I love that our country was built on faith in God. As Jay Leno reportedly has said: “With hurricanes, tornadoes, fires out of control, mud slides, flooding, severe thunderstorms tearing up the country from one end to another, and with the threat of bird flu and terrorist attacks, are you sure this is a good time to take God out of the Pledge of Allegiance?”

He has a valid point. Supposedly only 13 percent of Americans oppose Christian/God references, so why are we even considering such absurdity? Trying to remove God from our country would be like trying to remove our hearts from our bodies. We’d die a quick and painful death.

Ronald Reagan said, “If we ever forget that we’re one nation under God, then we will be a nation gone under.” The Old Testament is full of stories of places that turned their backs on God and were so successful at it they disappeared from the face of the earth. Think Sodom and Gomorrah; Tyre and Sidon; Babylon and Assyria, just to name a few.

In Leviticus 26, God gave the Israelites his conditions for blessing. All they had to do was “walk in my statutes, and keep my commandments, and do them” (verse 3), and he promised their harvests would be plentiful, their land would be at peace, and they would be fruitful and multiply. Verse 12 reads, “I … will be your God, and ye shall be my people.”

Conversely, if they chose to walk contrary to God’s plan, he promised physical distress, drought, plagues, disease, famine and dispersion. It appears to be a no-brainer.

The United States is in danger. If we let 13 percent of the population dictate to the rest of us, if we let them change the very principles on which our country was founded, we will, indeed, cease to exist.

Aaron Tippin’s song states, “You’ve got to stand for something or you’ll fall for anything.” Anyone living in America has the right to worship or not worship. They can believe in God or not believe in God. They can pray or not pray – it’s their divine right to choose.

We, the people, need to stand together, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all, before the United States becomes the untied states; for united we stand, divided we fall.

God Bless America.

Brenda Norris is assistant Sunday school leader and choir director at the West Lubec Methodist Church. She may be reached via bdnreligion@bangordailynews.net. Voices is a weekly commentary by Maine people who explore issues affecting spirituality and religious life.